If the point is to demonstrate that we have an organized volunteer community (in order to get funding to do the projects we really want to do) then I think we'd be better off focusing on outreach to active Wikimedians instead.
We know that we *don't* know how to really bring newcomers into the online wiki community via local outreach events — this is the big unsolved problem for every chapter and user group. So building up our nominal volunteer base via events that we know don't really work, just so that we can reach the participation numbers that WMF is looking for, seems like putting the cart before the horse. I suggest that we'd have a much easier time if we started by refining the planning work we've done so far into a concise vision for where we want to go, and then using that to recruit active editors in our region. "Here are the big things we want to do, and what they will mean to you." (Press credentials! Wikimedia-in-Residence opportunities! Hanging out with other editors to talk shop and complain about everything that's wrong with Wikipedia!)
To the extent that we can "develop a volunteer base" by doing things we already want to do, that's great. But I don't want to plan our activities around chasing metrics; that leads down the same well-trodden path that so many other ineffectual chapters have already gone down.
-Sage
On Fri, Feb 20, 2015 at 4:30 PM, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Hi all,
If the plan is to have us focusing on developing a volunteer base, I think that natural places for us to start would be UW (including UW libraries, archives and museums), the Seattle Public Library, and the King County Library System.
To that end, how would people feel about making some of our editing workshops more externally focused on training new editors, probably with the use of VisualEditor from the start? For example, we might consider having one social unconference type meetup like we have had at Cafe Allegro each month, and one outreach-focused editing training and editathon combination event at an institution that is well placed for recruiting.
I am also thinking that we could have one event each month in Seattle, and one event each month on the eastside, with the locations alternating for the unconference-social and the workshop-edititathon.
We could also try a variety of focuses for the workshop-content contribution events. For example, instead of or in addition to content improvements on English Wikipedia people might be interested in photo uploads or editing for Commons, technical events such as the CDSW events, or subject-matter focused events such as highlights of particular subjects at libraries or museums.
What do you think? I'm brainstorming ideas here. I think some variety would be good, but if we're also interested in recruiting new long-term contributors then we might also want some continuity, so I'm trying to find the right balance, especially with our limited volunteer resources. If we expand our volunteer base then it will be easier for us to have a broader range of events.
I'm cc'ing Alex and WMF Evaluation here to see if they have suggestions.
I'll incorporate everyone's input here into the revised draft goals and budget. Some of the tasks that we had originally planned for this year may be moved to next year since WMF is unwilling to fund them this year.
Thanks,
Pine
This is an Encyclopedia One gateway to the wide garden of knowledge, where lies The deep rock of our past, in which we must delve The well of our future, The clear water we must leave untainted for those who come after us, The fertile earth, in which truth may grow in bright places, tended by many hands, And the broad fall of sunshine, warming our first steps toward knowing how much we do not know. —Catherine Munro
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